Paul Ladewski: Careful of the Madden Jinx

Columnist Paul Ladewski says the next guy to be on Madden's game should think twice.

Paul Ladewski

If there’s one thing that can cut an NFL player and even his team down to size almost as fast as a dogfighting scandal, it’s not a severe groin pull or a late hit — or even a venomous sports writer.

No, it’s the so-called Madden Jinx, which is the sentence given to the player on the cover of the EA Sports video game that NFL TV analyst John Madden endorses each year. Get your mug on the cover of the otherwise wildly popular game and the curse chews you up like its namesake does turkey legs on Thanksgiving day.

“It’s hard not to believe there’s a Madden Jinx, I’ll tell you that much,” said Bears wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad, whose kids are addicted to the game, as are hundreds of NFL players. “All those guys were on the cover, and all of them had problems. It’s pretty ironic, man.”

Last week, Madden NFL 08 hit the shelves, with Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young on the cover. One could almost hear Bears boss Lovie Smith shout, “Thank you, Touchdown Jesus!” while Bears fans groaned, “Dang, why couldn’t it have been Rex Grossman?”

“I’m not one to be superstitious, but the evidence shows there’s something to it, you know what I mean?” Bears safety Adam Archuleta said.

“It’s just a coincidence,” protested wide receiver/kick returner Devin Hester, who hasn’t returned to earth since he became the first player to receive a max 100 speed rating. “I don’t believe in that stuff.”

Said running back Cedric Benson: “I’m not sure what to think. But if it’s a coincidence, it has been a coincidence for a long time.”

The vast majority of players agree on this much: They would rather sweat through four-a-day practices than turn down an invitation to be the main man. San Diego Chargers stud runner LaDainian Tomlinson was a recent exception, not because he feared for his career but because he considered the $100,000-$200,000 fee to be chump change.

“It would be hard to accept being on the cover, but in the same breath, it would be hard to turn it down, man,” Muhammad said. “If the price is right, I’m on there. I’d have to fight the jinx, though. I’d fight it with all my might.”

Before the next person signs on the dotted line, he may want to read the fine print:

- Barry Sanders, Madden NFL 2000: After the 1998 season, the Detroit Lions scatback was a lead-pipe cinch to become the all-time rusher in NFL history. Boom! Just like that, Dancing Barry up and quit before the start of the next preseason camp.

- Eddie George, 2001: The Tennessee Titans back rushed for career highs of 1,509 yards and 16 TDs in 2000. Boom! George was never the same again.

The Madden Jinx had only begun to clear its throat.

- Daunte Culpepper, 2002: One year after the Minnesota Vikings quarterback threw a league-high 33 touchdown passes — boom! — he threw almost as many interceptions (13) as touchdowns (14) in 2001. He has yet to recover since then.

- Marshall Faulk, 2003: The St. Louis Rams’ do-it-all back rushed for 1,000 yards in seven of his first eight seasons. Boom! The streak came to a sudden halt in the 2002 season, which saw him sit out two games because of a bum ankle.

- Michael Vick, 2004: Even before the real deal started — boom! — the Atlanta Falcons quarterback busted a leg in a preseason game. He sat out the first 11 games of the 2003 regular season.

As Vick can tell you, the Madden Jinx comes with an extended guarantee.

- Ray Lewis, 2005: Boom! The venom-spewing linebacker sat out the 2004 regular-season finale because of a wrist injury, failed to pick off a pass in a season for the only time in his career and his Baltimore Ravens were toast forevermore.

- Donovan McNabb, 2006: After the Philadelphia Eagles got off to a 4-5 start —boom! — a sports hernia grounded Mr. Chunky Soup for the final seven games of the 2005 campaign.

- Shaun Alexander, 2007: Boom! The Seattle Seahawks workhorse got off to the worst start of his career, then a broken left foot turned Alexander the Great into Just Another Dude Named Shaun.

As for Young, he already has punched a teammate, violated team rules and been suspended for one game this preseason.

Uh-oh.

Other than Lewis, the Madden cover subjects have been limited to quarterbacks and running backs for one simple reason: The company wants to sell games.

Well, enough of the pretty boys already. If anyone lowers the boom on the Madden Jinx, then the tough guys may have to do it.

“Yeah, they need to put a safety on the front,” Archuleta lobbied. “Absolutely. That would be sweet, man.”

“It would break an unwritten rule among offensive linemen, but I think Olin Kreutz would look great on the cover,” tackle John Tait said.

“Put our whole unit on there,” Kreutz piled on.

If that doesn’t work, it’s time to wave the white flag, in which case I have the ideal candidate for the Madden 09 cover.

Osama bin Laden.

Double boom!

Paul Ladewski can be reached at pladd@aol.com

More Cubs coverage can be found online at www.dailysouthtown.com/sports